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Under the Volcano

Under the Volcano

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Under the Volcano

by Lowry, Malcolm

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Hardcover
Condition
Near Fine/Very Good
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Chico, California, United States
Item Price
NZ$468.10
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About This Item

New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947. This is the second novel from Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957); it is now considered a major work of Twentieth-Century literature. This is a Near Fine copy of the Second Printing (stated) of the First Edition. Light green cloth binding with red titling on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 375 pages. Light bumps to bottom corners; small bookseller label on rear paste-down; about 1/4" of light fading around the margins. Else a Fine copy. The dustjacket has been clipped and shows considerable edgewear, with a large chip to the top of the spine and three others on the rear panel (no text is affected). In an archival plastic protector.. Second Printing. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Synopsis

Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac, on the Day of the Dead in 1938. The novel was precipitated by a short story he wrote after a trip to Mexico with his wife. The story was expanded into a novel completed in 1940, but was rejected and then revised multiple times before finally getting published in 1947. Under the Volcano thoroughly demonstrates Lowry’s highly stylistic writing choices. Drawing heavily upon autobiographical material (Lowry himself was well-known to be an alcoholic), the author amplifies the complexity of the story with unexpected narrative shifts and allusive layers of symbolism. In fact, the complexity of Under the Volcano has been compared with James Joyce’s stylistic masterpiece, Ulysses. The novel was out of print by the time Lowry died of alcoholism in 1957, yet is critically acclaimed today. The Modern Library ranked Under the Volcano eleventh on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. TIME included the book in its list of 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. In 1984, John Huston directed a film adaptation of Under the Volcano. It received Oscar nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Score.

Read More: Identifying first editions of Under the Volcano

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Details

Bookseller
Quercus Rare Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
004345
Title
Under the Volcano
Author
Lowry, Malcolm
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Near Fine
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Edition
Second Printing
Publisher
Reynal & Hitchcock
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1947
Size
12mo - over 6¾" - 7&
Bookseller catalogs
Modern Literature;

Terms of Sale

Quercus Rare Books

We accept checks and money orders in US Dollars. Credit card orders are accepted through Biblio. California residents add appropriate sales tax. Items are returnable for any reason within ten days of receipt (please email or call first before returning item).

About the Seller

Quercus Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2006
Chico, California

About Quercus Rare Books

Quercus Books seeks out and provides to the discriminating Reader or Collector noteworthy books in the First Edition. Our particular focus is on Modern Literature (roughly from the Second World War to the present) and Irish Authors. We also retain a small stock of non-fiction titles, mostly in the fields of American Western History, American Indians, and the American Civil War. Member of IOBA - the Independent Online Booksellers Association.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Bumps
Indicates that the affected part of the book has been impacted in such a way so as to cause a flattening, indention, or light...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
12mo
A duodecimo is a book approximately 7 by 4.5 inches in size, or similar in size to a contemporary mass market paperback. Also...

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